It’s a sad day for movie fans, as Dutch actor Rutger Hauer has passed away at the age of 75 following a short illness.
Hauer made an impact on all forms of cinema over the course of his decades-long career, but perhaps no genres felt his influence more than those of sci-fi and action. Hauer, whose career kicked off in his native Netherlands, came to prominence in the U.S. in the early ’80s thanks to his starring role opposite Sylvester Stallone in the 1981 thriller Nighthawks, and then to an even greater extent in the 1982 sci-fi classic Blade Runner. Hauer portrayed the menacing android Roy Batty in the Ridley Scott film, giving a powerhouse performance that concluded with one of the genre’s greatest ever monologues.
Hauer went on to star in a number of films in the ’80s, including the thriller The Osterman Weekend opposite Burt Lancaster and the horror classic The Hitcher. He won a Golden Globe for his work on 1987’s Escape from Sobibor, and in the ’90s and 2000s appeared in cult favorites and blockbusters alike, such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Sin City, and Batman Begins. He continued to work steadily right up until his death, appearing in the 2017 sci-fi epic Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets and the acclaimed 2018 western The Sisters Brothers. In his personal life, Hauer was devoted to helping others and founded a nonprofit AIDS awareness foundation, the Rutger Hauer Starfish Association.
His commanding presence and ability to elevate any material on screen will sorely be missed, and we send our condolences to his family and loved ones.
